Have you ever been hospitalized for your mental illness?

Hello @snapshot!

I hope you're fine now, though I know that anxiety problems are not that easy to deal with. I also have few episodes of panic attacks and depression once in a while, but I have never been hospitalized. I'm always on self-medication, just trying to get used to these things.

I'm sorry you had to go through that, @snapshot! It must have been terrible knowing that your roommate slit her wrists in your bathroom. It must also have been pretty scary being near people that are crazy to say the least.

I was almost admitted to hospital once some years ago, I tried to kill myself and was unconscious for a bit. But I did wake up.   I wanted to kill myself after a really bad diagnosis some years ago, I was so depressed I just didn't want to go on living anymore. My heart just sunk right now thinking of that actually  It was the darkest time in my life, and I hope I never have to go through the same thing. That is probably my biggest fear. 

I know people that have had to seek medical help for their mental illness and a couple of times it as led to them being kept in hospital but its only ever been for a few days.

I've been admitted twice to an inpatient facility, both back to back for the same thing. I had just come out of a traumatic experience and within a month of being back home and trying to get "on my feet" I found that I had significant difficulties surviving day to day life. I checked myself in voluntarily because I began feeling aggressive and suicidal. The first time I was inpatient it was an awkward and weird experience for me - it was civilian run and local and I was only there for two weeks but had a difficult time interacting with others or walking away with anything new. The nursing staff were polite and therapy consisted of talking to a doctor maybe once every other day. There was some classes we'd attend in the unit for a few hours each day but no one interacting with one another and not as much interaction with a medical provider. I'd see the doctor at that facility whenever they happened to be available and all they did was relay that information back to my primary health care provider and correspond with them. I required something more intensive. It was a cold and unforgiving place. Needless to say my health care needs were not met at that facility. I returned to my job and they recognized some of the symptoms of what would later be PTSD and I was referred to a more comprehensive facility that would help identify PTSD as well as a TBI that I had suffered from my experience. The second time that I was admitted inpatient it was less voluntary and more of a "requirement" considering where I had come from. I was scared to death because of my prior experience being inpatient and felt even worse. I ended up having to be sent out of state where I spent around a month as a patient and it was a wonderful experience for me - it helped being around others that I could really relate and form bonds with. The first inpatient facility was a mixture of every kind of person with every kind of medical history imaginable. The second was more focused on what symptoms I had been able to identify with. I'm thankful for that experience but the first week was absolutely terrifying for me.

I was hospitalized for five days at the end of 2011. While in detox/rehab for alcohol at the beginning of that year, a psychiatrist diagnosed me as bipolar. I was on 4 different mood stabilizers over the next 9 months and I've never felt so miserable in my life. I can't even really describe how bad I felt, other than just "bad." I eventually started to have trouble sleeping, as in not sleeping for days on end, while still parenting a small child and working full time. It was honestly excruciating and that combined with being on medication that didn't work for me, eventually just broke me down.

Being in a psychiatric hospital unit is not something I ever wish to do again, but it honestly saved me. There were a lot of people there who were way worse off than me, and it was just really sad. But, I got some sleep while there, and the doctor took me off of mood stabilizers and put me on Zoloft, and it made an enormous difference within days. Zoloft is my miracle drug!

(By the way, I've been told by several doctors in the past few years that the psychiatrist who diagnosed me as bipolar while I was detoxing from alcohol should have never done that. That's like the worst time to determine what someone's mental illness is!)

That is a powerful post. I went into a mental/rehab center. I cut my wrist I only stayed for 4 days. That was enough for me. The reason I cut my wrist was the other reason I was there my addiction to alcohol. I was in the duel program I must say I was in with a few that we're really off their rocker. I don't think I could have stood a year. I really wish you the best sounds like you have been through a lot.

Wow, lots of stories here that sound scary to me. I've only been committed somewhere once, due to suicidal feelings associated with my depression and alcoholism. It was one of the worst experiences of my life. I was terrified, I was not taken care of in any way, no one spoke to me, there was no therapy or anything, and I kept demanding to leave, because I had essentially been tricked into going there, being told it would be a group environment with therapy, and it was me in a room alone with people staring at me through glass while I covertly cut myself and went through cigarette and alcohol withdrawals. When I demanded to leave they said if I DID leave before the days-long period was up, they'd just send the cops to bring me back, and they had the legal right to do it. I was terrorized and shell-shocked from it, and I do feel like when I got out, I escaped. Never again. I will never tell someone when I'm suicidal again.

That sounded like some really bad experiences and from a young age too. Thanks for being bold enough to share the experience and I hope you're doing so much better today. I cannot say how I would have handled all that; I felt a bit queasy just reading about you witnessing a roommate slitting her wrists. I hope you will stay strong after all you've been through. I realy look forward to all your good news updates.

Hey there @snapshot! How are you doing nowadays? I hope you're doing well and feeling better already. The only time I can remember being hospitalized was when I was a kid and being tested because my parents were afraid that something's wrong with me. I was an hyperactive child and I quite caused a stir in the school that I was attending. The teachers didn't know what to do with me. I really don't remember much of the details, except that I was seldom in class and there was always a person following me around wherever I run to. 

I have a cousin whose wife was hospitalized because of depression and anxiety. Back then I didn't know better and even thought that it's a waste of time and money to get treatment because the person is extremely sad. But of course. it's much more than that. Though I won't fully understand what the person is going through because I don't experience anxiety attacks, I now am aware that these problems are not easily dealt with. Medication, therapy and counselling are needed to help the person suffering from them. Not to mention the support of loved ones and family.